Golf-club.



No. 732,136. PATBNTED JUNE so, 190s.

P. w. TAYLGR.

G CLUB.

APPLIOATIO ILBD SEPT. 22. 1902.

N0 IODEL.

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UNITED STATES :Patented June 30, 1903'.

FREDERICK WV. TAYLOR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GOLF-CLU B.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,136, dated June 30, 1903. Application led September 22,1902. Serial No. 124.291. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Beitknown that I, FREDERICK W. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Golf-Clubs, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to golf-clubs, and is in itsprincipal features applicable to those varieties of clubs which are generally comprehended under the name of baffy, mashie,7 and niblick -that is to say, clubs the faces of which slant backward to -the ground or sole of the club at an angle of fifty-live degrees or less.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a club adapted to strike a golf-ball below its horizontal central section as it lies upon the ground and to impart to it in the act of giving it an upward blow a sharp backward rotation which will counteract its tendency to roll forward when it pitches upon the green, causing the ball to fall dead.

Clubs of the class to which my invention relates have heretofore in some cases been provided with roughened faces, with a View ofimpartinga backward spinor rotation to the ball; but, so far as I am aware, the roughness imparted to the face of such clubs has been in the nature of score-marks, formed with the design of providing recesses in which the provjections usually formed on the surface of the ball could engage, and while this device operates with some efficiency when the club is brought in contact with the ball with very considerable force I have found that it is outwardly-projecting teeth, which by preference I make of the kind usually formed upon the file-cut portion of rasps, having found satisfaction in a construction in which such a section of a rasp is inserted in so as to form a part of the face of the club.

While my said invention is applicable to any club coming within the general classification already noted, I have found that it gives most satisfaction and is most efficient when the club is used so as to cut slightly into the turf behind the ball; but it is of course important that the club should not cut so deeply into the ground as to materially check its motion, and therefore I prefer to construct my club with a broad Hat sole or ground, which will prevent the club from passing down into the ground.

Another object of my invention is to provide a club which will cut into the turf slightly in the rear of the ball with great readiness and freedom and will at the same time be prevented by its construction from passing downward into the ground beyond a short determined distance, and this I accomplish by continuing a portion of the sloping face of the club forward beyond and below the edge formed by the meeting of the sole and face, thus providing a cutting edge which needV not be any broader than that portion of the face of the club with which the ball is struck under normal conditions, which cutting edge will pass into the ground with the utmost freedom until the sole of the club proper comes in contact with the surface of the ground, checking the further downward motion of the club, so that all the force of the blow is exerted in the direction of the ball, and while this specialconstruction is of greatest and most pronounced value when used in connection with the face having the projecting teeth or pins, as already described, it is lalso useful in clubs of ordinary construction having the face-angles whichcharacterize the clubs known as mid-irons, ba`iiies, mashies, and niblics The projecting cutting edge of the club need not be,and for the best results should not be, of greater breadth than that portion of the central face of the club with which the ball is struck, and I have found it advantageous in order to counteract the tendency of the front edge of the club other than the prolonged central portion to cut into the ground to round said lateral portions of the front edge upwardly, so that they will coact with the sole of the club in preventing further penetration than is provided for by the projecting cutting edge.

Reference being now had to the drawings, in which my invention is illustrated in what I believe to be its best form, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the head of a club which might be calleda mashie or baiy Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a cross-section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a crosssectional view of a similar club having a more inclined face and of a kind which would be generally described as a niblicg and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional View of a clubof the same general character as that shown in Fig. 4, but illustrating a modification in the construction.

A, Fig. 1, indicates the lower-portion of the shaft; B, the head of the club, having a face C, in which, as shown, is formed a recess (indicated at C2) for the insertion of a toothed plate, forming the striking-face of the club.

D indicates the sole of the club, which by preference is rounded upward, as indicated at F. E, where it meets the face Cof the club.

F is a metal plate, preferably of iron or steel., which in the construction illustrated is inserted in the recessed portion C2 of the face and which is provided with outwardlyprojecting teeth (indicated at F') of such a character 'as will insure their embedding themselves in the face ot' the stricken golfball. By preference and as illustrated in the drawings the toothed plate is continued below the sole of the club, as indicated at F2, forming a cutting edge which will freely enter the ground until the sole D of the club comes in contact with it.

The modified form of club indicated in Fig. 4 is identical with that shown iu Figs. 1, 2, and 3, except that the face of the club indicatedat C is more inclined than that indicated at C, and the moditied construction indicated in Fig. 5 is identical with that shown in Fig. 4, except that the toothed and projecting plate F F2 is continued under the sole ot 'the club, as indicated at F3, forming a downwardly-projecting L"false sole, so to speak, which has some ineritin that while it to some extent checks the farther entry of the cutting edge into the ground it also tends to counteract any tendency to pass too far down below the surface.

The general operation of my club has already been quite fully described, and itis therefore unnecessary to further specify its merit and Inode of operation.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A golf-club, having a flat face slanted backward to an angle of fifty-five degrees or less to its sole, said flat face being provided, over the portion with which the ball is struck, with outwardly-projecting teeth, separated by sections of the iiat face, and adapted to embed themselves in a golf-ball when it is struck by the club, without preventing the dat face from striking the ball, whereby the face of the club in striking, simultaneously determines the angle of lift and the backward rotation imparted to the ball.

2. A golfclub, having abroad sole and a flat face slanted backward to an angle of ft-yfive degrees or less to its sole, said dat face being provided, overthe portion with which the ball is struck, with outwardly-projecting teeth, separated by sections of the flat face, and adapted to embed themselves in a golfball when it is struck by the club without preventing the [iat face from striking the ball, whereby the face of the club in striking, simultaneously determines the angle of lift and the backward rotation imparted to the ball.

3. A golf-club having a broad sole, a face slanted backward to said sole and a projection from the front edge ot' the club continuing the center of the club-face below the plane of the sole.

4. A golf-club having a broad sole, a face slanted backward to said sole, a projection from the front edge of the club continuing the center of the club-face below the plane of the sole and having the front edges of the club on each side of the projecting central part rounded oil?.

5. A golf-club having a broad sole, a face slanted backward to an angle of fifty-tive degrees or less to said sole and provided with outwardly-projecting teeth adapted to embed themselves in the face of a golf-ball when it is struck by the club and a projection from the front edge of the club continuing the center of the club-face below the plane of the sole.

6. A golf-club having a broad sole, a face slanted backward to an angle of fifty-tive degrees or less to said sole and provided with outwardly-projecting teeth adapted to embed themselves in the face of a golf-ball when it is struck by the club, a projection from the front edge of the club continuing the center of the club-face below the plane of the sole and leaving the front edges of the club on each side of the projecting central part rounded od.

FREDERICK WV. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

CHAs. F. MYERS, D. STEWART.

ICO. 

